• by Les Luchter , 2 hours ago

A month and a half after launching with social, print, and out-of-home ads on July 1, which was also day one of Medicare’s GLP-1 Bridge program, Eli Lilly this week debuted a TV spot as part of its latest obesity-focused awareness campaign created with Wieden+Kennedy Portland.

Featuring a 67-year-old woman reflecting back on her lifetime of concerns about her weight, the 60-second ad ends with graphics stating “Obesity medicine is now on Medicare for $50/month. Some people spend their lives fighting obesity. We fought to make obesity medicine acceptable for them.”

Seniors with good vision who can read the small print under the concluding “Lilly. A Medicine Company” logo will find out, though, that the $50 price applies only to “eligible Medicare Part D beneficiaries.”

That eligibility, requiring a combination of medical conditions and BMI number minimums, means that approximately 3.8 million Americans are eligible for the low price, according to a recent KFF analysis.

Being an awareness ad, Lilly’s spot also doesn’t tell viewers that two of the three available medicines under the Bridge program are its own Zepbound and Foundayo. The other is rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.

Nor does the ad mention that the Bridge program is only scheduled to run through the end of 2027.

The TV spot, running on broadcast and streaming platforms, debuted Tuesday during such content as NBC's “America's Got Talent” and MLB’s coverage of the Chicago White Sox vs. Chicago Cubs. Future coverage includes the Emmy Awards, airing Sept. 14 on NBC and Peacock.

Through the fall, the ad –-- directed by filmmaking duo Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley (“Train Dreams,” “Sing Sing”) -- will also be supported with placements on YouTube, Meta, Snap and TikTok.

The overall campaign – dubbed “A Life Covered” – includes centerspread placements in the Sunday editions of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer and Houston Chronicle, as well as a centerspread in People. Out-of-home includes New York City’s  LinkNYC  kiosks, as well as a “digital spectacular” in Midtown and Penn Station, the brand says.

Lilly and Wieden+Kennedy Portland have created three previous obesity awareness TV spots: “Big Night” and “Shame,” both of which premiered Oscar night 2024, and “My Focus,” which debuted this past January.